NOVEMBER 2019
739
HERMAN GRANADOS POST 739
How Nike Got It Wrong by Dr. John Ellis, Ed.D.
It makes one wonder just what the heck they were thinking. We’re still scratching our heads over that one, considering how Kaepernick’s interpretation of history is illogically flawed.
Nike was set to release a special patriotic sneaker this past 4th of July featuring what's historically referred to as "the Betsy Ross flag" (named after the seamstress credited by many as having sewn it)…
Reprinted with Permission - Tom Stiglich Media News Group/Creators Syndicate
…the same flag that was adopted by an Act of Congress on June 14, 1777…
However, when former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick called the design offensive (because it featured a flag from an era when slavery was still prevalent in the United States), Nike shelved its planned release in response.
“Resolved. That the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes, red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” Nike’s Air Max 1 USA Sneakers
This official “star spangled banner” came to represent our fight for freedom from Great Britain a full six years before the end of the Revolutionary War… six long years during which our patriots fought and died under the stars and stripes.
But why would a major international company like Nike react so radically to criticism from a guy who, as the face of t h e c o m p a n y ’s “ J u s t D o I t ” 3 0 t h anniversary ad campaign, is most noted for disrespecting his country’s flag by kneeling on the sidelines during the national anthem?*
After all, the Betsy Ross design was the first official representation for what would become a fledgling new nation. As such, it’s patriotic tenor and what it stands for in American history simply cannot be denied. The implication was clear when the Continental Congress adopted it. This is who we are. This is what will represent us. This is what we will fight and die for in our quest for “liberty and justice for all.” Sure, those words were somewhat of a misnomer… for the “all”, in reality, did not apply to blacks. Yet, over 9,000 dedicated black troops fought with valor from the very beginning of the conflict in places like Lexington, Bunker Hill and Fort Ticonderoga. And while we can’t erase the ignominy of slavery during Cont’d. on Page 6
5 Editor: John Ellis, Ed.D. - Photographer: Lupita Azzolina - Proofreader: Cristy Perez (760) 534-0124 - americanlegion739@gmail.com Legion Post: 44-200 Sun Gold St., Indio, CA 92201 - (760) 347-4710
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